Individual Curriculum Units

The Choices Program develops curriculum on foreign policy and international issues. Teacher Sets include a reproducible student text and a teacher guide with lesson plans and additional teaching resources. Order Here.

List of All Titles

Unit Cover Choices Catalog
The Choices Catalog includes information on Choices unit titles, descriptions of digital teaching resources, and an overview of professional development available from the Choices Program.
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Unit Cover Between World Wars: FDR and the Age of Isolationism
Between World Wars: FDR and the Age of Isolationism examines the events in the United States and overseas in the early years of World War II and then recreates the great debate that took place in the United States over the Lend-Lease Act.
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Unit Cover Beyond Manifest Destiny: America Enters the Age of Imperialism
This unit probes the political and ethical issues raised by the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of an overseas empire and consider the relevance for today.
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Unit Cover Caught Between Two Worlds: Mexico at the Crossroads
This unit involves students in Mexico's wrenching economic and cultural transformation. It probes Mexico's complex identity and history, from a Mexican perspective, to bring students face-to-face with the policy choices confronting the people of Mexico.
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Unit Cover The Challenge of Nuclear Weapons
This unit introduces students to the history of nuclear weapons and the concept of deterrence. It examines arguments for and against nuclear weapons and looks at the leftover arsenals of the Cold War, proliferation, and the threat of nuclear terrorism.
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Unit Cover Challenge to the New Republic: The War of 1812
This unit examines the foreign policy challenges of the early U.S. administrations as the new nation struggled to gain international respect. Students consider the choices for America in 1812.
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Unit Cover China on the World Stage: Weighing the U.S. Response
This unit focuses on our country's relationship with the emerging East Asian giant. Students explore the history of Western relations with China and consider the global impact of China's economic growth and societal transformation.
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Unit Cover Colonialism in the Congo: Conquest, Conflict, and Commerce
This unit confronts students with the history of King Leopold's Congo Free-State and the international debate on how to respond. It provides a foundation for assessing the moral, political, cultural, and economic issues raised by colonialism.
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Unit Cover Conflict in Iraq: Searching for Solutions
Iraq is the most pressing foreign policy problem facing the United States. Students explore the history of Iraq and the current conflict and engage in informed discussion about the U.S. role in Iraq today.
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Unit Cover Confronting Genocide: Never Again?
This unit traces the evolution of the international community's response to genocide and examines how the United States has responded to five cases of genocide. Students consider how we should respond in the future if confronted with another genocide.
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Unit Cover Contesting Cuba's Past and Future
The unit puts students in the role of Cubans today as they consider Cuba's future. It traces Cuba's highly contested history from the country's pre-colonial past to its most recent economic, social, and political changes.
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Unit Cover The Cuban Missile Crisis: Considering its Place in Cold War History
This unit probes the complex relationship between the United States and Cuba, and examines the crisis that brought the world to the brink of war.
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Unit Cover Dilemmas of Foreign Aid: Debating U.S. Priorities, Policies, and Practices
This unit introduces students to four types of foreign Aid. Students consider the reasons for and consequences of exporting the American values.
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Unit Cover To End All Wars: World War I and the League of Nations Debate
This unit probes the transformation of U.S. foreign policy during WW I. Students take part in the conference at Versailles and the Senate debate on the League of Nations.
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Unit Cover Ending the War Against Japan: Science, Morality, and the Atomic Bomb
This unit engages students in the political, military, and ethical issues involved in the decision to drop atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
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Unit Cover A Forgotten History: The Slave Trade and Slavery in New England
This unit explores the triangular trade and the extent of slavery in New England. It discusses the effects of the trade and of slavery for the new Americans of the time.
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Unit Cover Freedom in Our Lifetime: South Africa's Struggle
This unit explores the history of South Africa and the development of a race-based society, the effects of apartheid, and the decision by some members of the anti-apartheid community to use violence to oppose the government's policies.
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Unit Cover The French Revolution
The French Revolution helps students consider the issues facing France at a time of social and political upheaval.
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Unit Cover From Colony to Democracy: Considering Brazil's Development
This unit explores the choices Brazilians faced as the country transitioned to democracy in the mid-1980s and introduces historical forces that informed debates at that time.
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Unit Cover Global Environmental Problems: Implications for U.S. Policy
This unit invites students to weigh the significance of global environmental problems in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy today. It traces the entry of climate change, pollution, deforestation, and biodiversity pressures into the sphere of public policy.
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Unit Cover Indian Independence and the Question of Pakistan
This unit on the partition of British India engages students in an exploration of South Asia's history, the issues leading up to partition, and helps students explore its significance in today's world.
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Unit Cover International Trade: Competition and Cooperation in a Globalized World
This unit seeks to help students understand the basics of international trade and consider its role in this era of globalization.
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Unit Cover Iran Through the Looking Glass: History, Reform, and Revolution
This unit traces the history of Iran and helps students understand the political and cultural conditions that led to the 1979 Revolution and its aftermath.
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Unit Cover The Limits of Power: The United States in Vietnam
This unit draws students into the key decision points marking U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Historical background and original documents recreate the assumptions and mind-sets shaping American foreign policy during the Vietnam War years.
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Unit Cover A More Perfect Union: American Independence and the Constitution
This unit examines the context in which the U.S. Constitution was framed. Students explore parallels between the debates of America's formative years to those of today.
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Unit Cover The Origins of the Cold War: U.S. Choices after World War II
This unit engages students in the national debate on the U.S. role in the world in 1946. The unit recalls the historically-rooted ambivalence with which Americans greeted their country's sudden prominence in world affairs after World War II.
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Unit Cover Responding to Terrorism: Challenges for Democracy
This unit addresses the issues arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks. Students are drawn into consideration of the changing nature of terrorism, the motivations of terrorists, and the policy challenges for the United States.
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Unit Cover Russia's Transformation: Challenges for U.S. Policy
This unit puts students in a position to consider our country's relationship with Russia and its neighbors. The unit surveys Russian history and considers the economic problems and political crises that have shaped the outlook of policy makers.
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Unit Cover The Russian Revolution
This unit explores the events leading up to Lenin and the Bolsheviks' assumption of power. Students examine the political and economic conditions that led to the fall of the Tsar and explore the competing political ideologies in revolutionary-era Russia.
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Unit Cover Shifting Sands: Balancing U.S. Interests in the Middle East
This unit allows students to examine the Arab-Israeli conflict, the Role of oil in geopolitics, the politicization of Islam, the significance of the Iranian Revolution, and other historical issues that have shaped U.S. ties to the Middle East.
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Unit Cover Teacher's Guide for The Fog of War
The Teacher's Guide for The Fog of War provides a series of lesson plans to accompany Errol Morris' Academy Award wining full-length documentary. [Teacher's Guide only; DVD not included]
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Unit Cover U.S. Immigration Policy in an Unsettled World
Students examine the historical and current dimensions of an issue that has become a key focus of U.S. policy in the wake of 9.11. This unit engages students in the current debate about our national identity.
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Unit Cover The U.S. Role in a Changing World
This unit helps students reflect on global changes, assess national priorities, and decide for themselves the role the United States should play in the world today. Readings include discussions of security, economy, environment, culture, and politics.
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Unit Cover The United Nations: Challenges and Change
The United Nations: Challenges and Change introduces students to the idea of "collective security," tracing the emergence of the League of Nations to the formation of the United Nations.
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Unit Cover Weimar Germany and the Rise of Hitler
This unit explores the political culture of Weimar Germany and examines why democracy failed to take root in a modern, industrialized society that had long been at the forefront of Western civilization.
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